“It was a good example of how we, as a conference, can work together to have a positive influence on legislation,” Bishop William Murphy, head of the domestic justice and human development committee of the U.S. Conference of Bishops, told the Catholic News Service last week.

Success in the House came after the church ran a classic lobbying operation: deploying paid staff to Capitol Hill, tapping influential bishops to make private appeals to key congressional leaders and distributing bulletin inserts to 19,000 parishes with easy instructions — and sample wording — for sending a message to local representatives.

But it remains to be seen if the bishops can have the same results as the broader health bill moves forward or on more complex life issues such as embryonic stem cell research.

In the health care debate, for instance, the bishops have consistently identified three priority areas: abortion, religious conscience clauses and immigrant rights.

“I don’t think the Catholics in the pews will get quite as focused on a message of immigrants as they have been on the question of abortion,” said Stephen Schneck, a professor of politics at The Catholic University of America. “And I’m not convinced the church leaders are willing to expend the political capital with those Catholics in order to promote the cause.”

Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), a Catholic who participated in the intense negotiations over the final abortion language, said the pressure from the church to ease restrictions on immigrants was “not even close” to the abortion language tug of war.

The church’s strategic decisions are significant because — with Catholics representing, at 30 percent, the largest single religious group among members of Congress — it can gain access across party lines.

While pressuring Democratic leaders to adjust the abortion coverage language earlier this month, the bishops simultaneously contacted House Republican leaders and warned them against using procedural tactics to torpedo any amendment.

The church’s engagement also could help scramble some long-held partisan divides, given that its policy platform is more diverse than traditional Capitol Hill religious players — evangelicals on the right and Protestant groups such as the National Council of Churches on the left.

While taking conservative stands on life issues, the Catholic bishops have also allied themselves with advocates for labor rights and the poor because of the church’s traditional advocacy for the downtrodden. One reason the bishops could gain entry into the health care debate is the church’s vast array of clinics and hospitals that often serve those in most need, including legal and illegal immigrants.

But the church’s liberal positions on many social issues and strong anti-abortion stance have put it at odds with politicians who hold more traditionally liberal or conservative views. No dispute has been more contentious than the one with Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), nephew of the nation’s only Catholic president, John F. Kennedy, and a supporter of abortion rights.

In an interview with The Providence Journal on Friday, Kennedy said that Providence Bishop Thomas J. Tobin has forbidden him from receiving Communion because of his advocacy of abortion rights.

As the health care debate has intensified, Kennedy has called into question the anti-abortion credentials of the churchmen, and Tobin has responded that the bishops are firmly committed to health care reform but not without the abortion provision.

Tobin said in a statement Sunday that he “has never addressed matters relative to public officials receiving Holy Communion with pastors of the diocese,” according to The Associated Press.

An official familiar with the bishop conference’s strategic positioning on health care said the different engagement levels on abortion and the treatment of immigrants can be explained by the stakes in each debate.

Bishops (or any other religious figure) should have absolutely ZERO political muscle.

I know ...I know, but still they have at least 30% of capitol hill with their heads spinning around like something out of the exorcist. Immigration...yea....abortion...oh no....they are going to get whiplash. ROFLMAO

For instance, the church worked behind the scenes to bolster the argument of House Hispanic members who vowed to block reform if it didn’t allow undocumented workers to use their own money to buy insurance on new exchanges.

sadly, as most leaders of any type of group... they will try to influence their followers in many aspects of their life, including politics.

Personally, I would revoke the tax exemptions on any religious congregation that preaches anything about politics... so they can speak all they wan't, but know that if they do political advocacy, they will no longer be tax exempt.

Although I consider myself "eviramontaly friendly", i have to say that the enviromental protection movement is mistaken in targetting nuclear power. More investment should be make in making nuclear energy the primary source of electricity within the USA... with more investment being made in waste management and security.

Personally, I would revoke the tax exemptions on any religious congregation that preaches anything about politics...

How about removing tax-exempt status from ANY organization that preaches/speaks about politics? How many community advocacy groups would be affected? If you want to apply this to one group, apply the same to all...

I love the way some of you are all too willing to deprive someone of their "right" to speak to issues they believe strongly in. Bishops aren't congressmen, they have no power to change law without the rights provided them, and us. If you disagree with their views, good for you, you have that right, but, so do they. Why is it that the fools on the left are always ready to deprive someone of the same rights as they have? The simple answer is that they think, with their pointy headed liberal agenda, that only they have the answers, only they should be allowed to speak their minds. We've seen it so many times on this board, a conservative says something, and all the libtards come running out of the walls, like roaches, and spew forth their venom. I have a news flash for all of you liberals, "free speech" is for everyone, not just liberals. Personally?, I'd like to see more "men of the cloth" talking about politics from the pulpit, heck, the black churches do it all the time, and the libs don't seem to have a problem. Maybe it's because most of the black churches support the democrat party, although I can't understand why. The democrat party has, for the last 40+ years, made an art form of enslaving black people. Take welfare, " yes mam, we are going to give you money, free housing, free medical, free food, all we ask in return is that you throw your husband out, have as many children as you can, so you can get more money, and eventually, destroy your family. That's not asking too much is it?

Although I consider myself "eviramontaly friendly", i have to say that the enviromental protection movement is mistaken in targetting nuclear power. More investment should be make in making nuclear energy the primary source of electricity within the USA... with more investment being made in waste management and security.

How about removing tax-exempt status from ANY organization that preaches/speaks about politics? How many community advocacy groups would be affected? If you want to apply this to one group, apply the same to all...

Correct there would be many nonprofits cut off. I think Fed is just talking about religious orgs and the tax exemptions. We were discussing this in my church a couple of weeks ago.